Blue Ridge District Board of Supervisors member Billy Martin called it “a no brainer,” and along with the rest of the board agreed to follow through on a proposal that could mean as much as a $10 million savings on disposing of county trash.

The Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to follow through on a proposal from County Waste of Southwest Virginia LLC (CWSV) to enter into a public-private solid waste services partnership under the provisions of the state’s Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act (PPEA).

CWSV made an unsolicited proposal to privatize the county landfill operations, to close and cap the landfill and to construct a trash transfer station in Cloverdale to handle the county’s trash long-term.

To accommodate the provisions in the PPEA, the supervisors are soliciting other competing proposals from private firms to deal with disposing of county trash.

The supervisors had planned to get back into the landfill business rather than pay $5 million to join the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA) by June 2019 in order to keep sending county trash to that authority’s transfer station in Hollins.

The supervisors adjusted disposal rates at the landfill, and hoped to accumulate enough of the expected $5 millioo to pay for closing the two cells still open there by the mandated closure dates in 2021 and 2015.

The county was still going to have to find a long-term solution to dealing with trash disposal, though.

Under the PPEA, the county can use this alternative procurement method to solicit proposals or it can accept unsolicited proposals “for creative and innovative public-private partnerships for solutions to issues of public infrastructure, planning and provision of services.” The county can then negotiate with firms that make subsmissions.

The county has advertised competing proposals that must be received by Monday, May 21.

A copy of the unsolicited proposal from CWSV is on the county website and the Virginia Business Opportunities website (www.eva.virginia.gov).